PLYMOUTH, N.H. —The Speare Memorial Hospital Diabetes Education Program has been awarded continued recognition from the American Diabetes Association (ADA) as a certified, diabetes self-management program. Certification by the ADA is a voluntary process which assures the approved program has met the national standards for evidence-based, diabetes self-management education.

“As a certified program we are able to use the considerable tools and resources that the ADA makes available to provide education to clients during the program, and support after the program to help them maintain positive behavior changes,”

Baker says 95 percent of patients with diabetes are type 2, stressing, “It is important to know the primary risk factors—overweight, over 40, family history of the disease and an impaired fasting glucose (100 – 126 mg/dl)—so people can take the right actions in the right amount of time, while they are symptomless.”

That’s where education comes in and the purpose of Speare’s Diabetes Education Program: to bridge the gap between a doctor’s diagnosis and a patient’s treatment/self-management of diabetes or pre-diabetes. Based on physician referrals, patients have an initial consultation for general instruction on diabetes and its potential complications, and then are scheduled for nutrition counseling for diet and lifestyle changes. Next, patients complete nine hours of diabetes education classes. Once patients have completed the required coursework a follow-up plan is developed. Additionally, patients are encouraged to participate in Speare’s Diabetes Support Group which meets the first Thursday of each month at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. in the Cafeteria Annex.

“Our job is to help our patients understand the disease, how it is affecting them and what the tools for successful self-management are,” says Baker. For more information about Speare Memorial Hospital’s Diabetes Education program or nutrition counseling call Jean Baker at (603) 238-6472 or Janette Gaumer at (603) 238-2244.

Speare Memorial Hospital is a 24-hour, acute care, non-profit community hospital and health care provider serving Plymouth and the communities of central New Hampshire for more than a century. Visit online at www.spearehospital.com and join us on Facebook, where we post eating right tips weekly.